NFL owners, players still unsettled on HGH screening

By Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY

When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and players union chief DeMaurice Smith stood on the steps of the Pro Football Hall of Fame seven weeks ago to announce ratification of a 10-year labor deal, it appeared to be a historic moment for the nation's most popular pro sports league.

By Rob Carr, Getty Images

NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith (left) and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (right) are leading both sides in ironing out how the league will test for HGH, part of the new labor deal.

NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith (left) and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (right) are leading both sides in ironing out how the league will test for HGH, part of the new labor deal.

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Besides resolving financial issues, the deal called for the NFL to become the first major pro league in the USA to implement testing for human growth hormone (HGH), a synthetic, performance-enhancing drug typically taken with steroids.

After years of haggling, it was widely viewed as a groundbreaking step that could deter cheaters, boost the NFL's image and send a strong anti-doping message to young athletes.

Yet three weeks into the NFL's regular season, there is no HGH testing.

It remains the one unresolved issue lingering from the labor dispute, which shut down the sport during the offseason with a 132-day lockout by team owners. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has not approved the league's proposed testing plan, maintaining that tests developed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) — which flag a positive result when ratios of a hormone naturally produced by the body are abnormal — are not reliable. The union wants more information to support the validity of the tests.

The nuts and bolts of HGH testing

The NFL and its players union agreed to mandate random testing for human growth hormone (HGH) as part of a new labor deal ratified in early August, but have yet to implement testing due to unresolved issues. The union has raised questions about the validity of blood tests that the NFL has approved, and has yet to sign off on other logistics. How the process of testing for HGH could be applied under the NFL’s proposed plan:

1. Each week during the preseason and regular season, three NFL clubs will be identified for blood-testing. Using a computer program, five to 10 players from each of the three teams will be selected for blood serum collection, in addition to urine testing for other substances. Players will be required to submit to testing whenever they are selected — even on game days, before or after the contests — regardless of the number of times they have been previously tested. During the postseason, five to 10 players from each team will be randomly selected each week while the club is active in the playoffs. During the offseason, 10% of each team’s players will be selected for blood testing. Also, any player subject to reasonable cause testing shall be eligible for blood testing at the discretion of the independent administrator of the testing program.

2. Selected players will be notified face-to-face by the blood collection specialist, who will document the time and date of the notification. If players are notified after completing physical activity, they will be provided a 15-minute hydration period before testing.

3. Players must present government- or team-issued identification upon entering the collection site, and will be asked which arm he wants used for the blood draw. Players will also be allowed to choose the specific blood collection kit from a supply of such.

4. A total of 10 ml of blood (less than a tablespoon) will be collected in two tubes, which will be labeled as “A” and “B” samples. Players will verify that the samples are inserted and sealed in an individually numbered BEREG transport kit. A temperature monitor that records the internal temperature during transport to the laboratory will be inserted into packaging designed to keep the samples cold.

5. Samples collected by Drug Free Sport — which has provided specimen collection service for the NFL’s drug program since 2007 and collects blood for Minor League Baseball — will be delivered within 36 hours to one of two domestic laboratories certified by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for HGH testing. The facilities are at UCLA and at the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Utah.

6. Testing of the “A” samples are expected to be completed within two weeks of the collection. If an “A” sample tests positive for HGH, the “B” sample will be tested.

7. If the “B” sample confirms the results of a positive test, the player will be notified.

8. Players have a right to appeal a positive test. Appeals are expected to be heard within 10 days by a third-party hearing officer, as agreed by the NFL and NFLPA.

9. If the suspension is upheld, a player testing positive for HGH would be subjected to a mandatory four-game suspension for a first offense, consistent with current steroids policy. Steeper penalties would apply for multiple offenses.

By Jarrett Bell

The NFL had hoped to begin random blood testing, even on game days, at the start of the regular season. Urine tests are used to detect other substances banned by the league, such as anabolic steroids, diuretics and certain stimulants.

"I don't have any issues with giving blood, but it's got to be a test above reproach," said linebacker Scott Fujita, the union representative for the Cleveland Browns. "So far, there hasn't been a test that's valid. There are so many issues that make it a slippery slope. This … can't be rushed."

HGH Q&A

Q: What is HGH?

A: Human growth hormone (HGH) is a hormone naturally produced by the body. It is synthesized and secreted by cells in the anterior pituitary gland located at the base of the brain. It acts on many aspects of cellular metabolism and is necessary for skeletal growth. The major role of HGH in body growth is to stimulate the liver and other tissues, and it aids in muscle and organ growth. The artificially-developed HGH that is banned as a performance enhancer by the NFL and other sports leagues is injected.

Q: How does HGH affect athletic performance?

A: In addition to being purported to build muscle mass and aid in the healing of muscles and bone, it is believed to also increase stamina. Experts also contend that HGH can help mask detection of other illegal substances.

A: The blood tests measure the ratio of HGH in the blood stream, with a high concentration of such resulting in a positive test. There is no urine test currently available, although such tests are being researchedand potentially developed.

Q: Why have there been so few positive tests for HGH?

A: According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the low number of positives could be a result of the majority of tests conducted while athletes are in competition. According to WADA, it is suspected that HGH is often taken while athletes are in training and out of their competitive seasons. The first HGH test was implemented for the Athens Olympics in 2004. Experts also contend that the high threshold allowed before considering a test as positive might be another factor.

By Jarrett Bell

Source: World Anti-Doping Agency

Gary Wadler, a long-established anti-doping voice and past chairman of WADA's prohibited list and methods committee, dismisses the players' concerns and defends the validity of HGH tests, which were first used at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and are evolving. According to The New York Times, there have been seven positive results involving athletes worldwide in sports that adhere to WADA's standards. Besides the Olympics — which had zero positive tests in two Summer and two Winter games — minor league baseball tests for HGH.

There is no evidence to pinpoint the level of HGH use in the NFL, but Goodell said at the start of the season that he suspected some players use it. In August, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez told The Indianapolis Star that he could not estimate a percentage of violators but that he was certain some players use HGH, which is illegal to have in the USA without a prescription.

"Around the league, you see guys on Sunday, and things don't add up; they don't look right," Gonzalez said. "I see guys I saw in college; now they're in the NFL and they look totally different."

"If guys start getting busted, then obviously there was a need," said Clabo, a union rep. "I don't anticipate there's going to be this large flux of guys getting caught, because I don't see it really being a huge problem. But there's really only one way to find out, and that's to start testing."

Major League Baseball, which strengthened drug testing rules as a result of its steroid era, has suspended 27 players for positive tests since imposing steroid testing in 2004. Baseball's testing for HGH is limited to the minor leagues, which led to Mike Jacobs, a since-released first baseman in the Colorado Rockies system, becoming the first North American athlete to test positive for HGH. Jacobs, suspended for 50 games last month, admitted taking HGH to aid healing from an injury.

Wadler, an internist, suspects that some NFL players are cheating similarly. HGH is purported to stimulate the growth and healing of bones and muscles, increase stamina and help mask steroid use. Side effects can include abnormal growth of organs, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

"What we know is that people dope," Wadler said. "To think there's some special characteristic that makes football players different from other athletes is naïve."

Wadler contends that the delay in HGH testing is a deliberate move by the players. "The pressure is off now," he said. "They got their sound bite and their headline. The public, glad to get football back, thinks it's taken care of. So it has lost interest in the issue. That's what the NFLPA is banking on."

NFLPA spokesman George Atallah disputed that claim as "shortsighted and misinformed."

How the testing would work

During the latter stages of negotiations for the labor deal, several details were ironed out that provide the framework for random HGH testing. A key feature of the plan that differs from testing for steroids and street drugs — outlined in documents obtained by USA TODAY — is that it doesn't call for every NFL player to be tested automatically, even on an annual basis. Among the details:

•Each week during the regular season and preseason, three clubs would be identified for testing, with five to 10 players on each of those teams randomly selected by a computer program.

•During the postseason, five to 10 players on each qualifying team would be tested each week, until the team is eliminated.

•Ten percent of each team's players would be randomly selected for testing during the offseason; in training camp in 2012, 20% of the team's players would be selected, with the rate dipping to 10% in 2013 and beyond.

•Thirty draft-eligible players would be randomly selected for testing during the scouting combine, typically attended by about 300 players.

Protocol for testing under policies for steroids and other banned substances include an annual urine test during training camp, in addition to random tests. For HGH testing, experts view the random, unannounced component as a crucial pillar because the window for detecting HGH can be as small as a matter of hours. The collection sample for each test would consist of 10 milliliters of blood, which is less than a tablespoon.

A players union that in the past opposed any form of blood testing has shifted significantly on the issue. Yet the sticking point remains in the details of the test. Natural HGH is primarily produced in two isoforms, or structures, according to David Bruns, a pathologist at the University of Virginia, which weigh either 20 or 22 kilodaltons. Synthetic HGH, though, comes only in one weight or the other and can't easily be mixed to achieve the proper ratio, Bruns said.

"You can see it in the blood if the ratio is out of kilter," Bruns said. "That's the tip-off."

Such a method also fuels player resistance.

"Is it important? Yes," Miami Dolphins linebacker Kevin Burnett said. "Is it reliable? No. You have to have a baseline for everybody, and the problem is that you have no baseline. What we don't understand about HGH is (whether) your level goes up and down during the season. So it's no sure thing."

Testing standards examined

The NFLPA says its approval is on hold in part because it hasn't received information requested from WADA, which oversees testing primarily for Olympic sports. The union, concerned the tests might generate false positive results, wants a population study comparing football players to athletes from sports such as rugby, soccer and cycling who have been in HGH testing programs.

Under the NFL's plan, blood samples would be collected by Drug Free Sport (as it has done with urine samples for the NFL's substance abuse program since 2007) and analyzed at WADA-approved laboratories in Utah and at UCLA. Results generally would be available in about two weeks.

"The players have asked WADA repeatedly for information related to their testing program," Atallah said. "Those requests have been denied. For us to move forward with a fair, safe and effective testing program, it is critical that we receive that information."

The union is seeking information that doesn't exist, said David Howman, WADA's director general. "If we're in the middle of it (the dispute), that's pretty irritable," Howman said. "There's nothing else that we can give them."

On Aug. 24, more than a dozen officials representing the NFL, NFLPA and independent scientific interests met at WADA headquarters in Montreal.

Goodell led the league's contingent. Smith wasn't there; the union was represented by general counsel Richard Berthelsen and Stacy Robinson, director of player services. Jointly appointed toxicologist Bryan Finkle and HGH expert Gerhard Baumann also were there.

Data were presented from more than 3,000 HGH tests done over the last two years, and the group was briefed on advances in testing. Howman said there was discussion about the deliberately high thresholds established for the test, which he said might account for the lack of positive results.

"I thought they were … quite reassuring," said Jeff Pash, the NFL's general counsel.

Added Howman, "We left under the impression that there was no scientific challenge to our test."

Atallah, however, said the population study was requested weeks before the meeting. "We're not going to negotiate a testing program blindly."

It might take a push from Capitol Hill to force a resolution. Last week, former NFL quarterback and House member Heath Shuler, D-N.C., co-chairman of the Professional Sports Caucus, led a group of 14 lawmakers who sent letters to Goodell and Smith seeking an estimated time when HGH testing would begin. In recent weeks, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and House members Fred Upton, R-Mich., Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., also have written to Goodell and Smith, urging movement.

In the meantime, players are bracing for some form of HGH testing.

"I'm not worried about it. I don't take anything," Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Donald Penn said. "But taking blood on game days? That's crazy. On game day, you need all of your energy. It kind of feels like they're really digging deep."